Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bengaluru, the only two teams yet to win a game in the 2019 IPL, will be desperate to outdo each other in a clash of strugglers at the Sawai Man Singh Stadium in Jaipur on Tuesday.
Both teams have been more than disappointing thus far in the IPL and need a win to revive their respective campaigns. Royals have failed to tighten the screws when it mattered the most. In all three matches, they were in a good position but could not grab the moments, losing to Kings XI Punjab, Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings respectively.
The hosts face an equally hungry outfit in RCB, who too are looking to redeem themselves. Their skipper Virat Kohli had conceded that the defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday afternoon was “one of their worst losses”.
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“We just need our players to put up a better challenge up front. There are still 11 games to go. The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring our A-game, like we did against Mumbai and play with that kind of intensity,” said Kohli after RCB’s third loss in a row.
{{/usCountry}}“We just need our players to put up a better challenge up front. There are still 11 games to go. The pitch will be nice in Jaipur against the Royals. We need to bring our A-game, like we did against Mumbai and play with that kind of intensity,” said Kohli after RCB’s third loss in a row.
{{/usCountry}}The visitors certainly have the resources in their ranks to beat Royals.RCB have a destructive batting order comprising Kohli, AB de Villiers, Parthiv Patel, Moeen Ali and Shimron Hetmyer, yet their batting failed miserably in two out of the three games. Both teams will also have to deal with the soaring heat in the the Pink City with temperatures nearing 40 degrees celsius.
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Even though Colin de Grandhomme was the best batsman for RCB in the match against Sunrisers Hyderabad with 37 runs, he could make way for Tim Southee in the next game. The RCB team management may look to strengthen their bowling attack by adding the ace paceman, who can restrict runs in the death overs.
Royal Challengers Bangalore predicted XI: Parthiv Patel (wk), AB de Villiers, Virat Kohli (c), Umesh Yadav, Moeen Ali, Yuzvendra Chahal, Tim Southee, Shimron Hetmyer, Mohammed Siraj, Shivam Dube, Prayas Barman
(With inputs from agencies)